Steve Krom, AT&T's vice president and general manager for New England, said the company's goal in making the improvements "is to deliver a network experience that mobilizes everything for customers."

"The ongoing investment we're making in Connecticut is designed to increase coverage and reliability, and to provide advanced services to our customers," Krom said in a written statement.

Meaghan Wims, a Rhode Island-based spokeswoman for the company, said that while AT&T enhanced "nearly all of our sites" in Connecticut since 2008, the telecommunications giant doesn't disclose the total number of cellular towers for competitive reasons.

AT&T's announcement about its investments in Connecticut comes at a time when the company is about to resume negotiations with its primary labor union regarding a new contract.

As far as Bill Henderson is concerned, AT&T's announcement "is anything but a coincidence." As president of Local 1298 of the Communications Workers of America, Henderson and his negotiating team will begin a new round of contract talks Feb. 29.

Wims said the timing of the AT&T announcement is not designed to coincide with the start of negotiations. The current contract with CWA is set to expire April, and the last time the company and the union were at the bargaining table, it took nearly 18 months of negotiations before a new contract was reached in September 2010.

Henderson said details of how much the company has invested in the state since 2008 "aren't as important as what they're going to invest in the future."

"We can't keep cutting maintenance and expect that the telecommunications network will be maintained at the same level," Henderson said.

The company's performance during Tropical Storm Irene and the October snowstorm was criticized by state officials, which Henderson said could have been avoided by a more aggressive effort in replacing aging utility poles that AT&T owns that carry electrical wires, as well as telecommunication lines overhead.

Call Luther Turmelle at 203-789-5706 or follow him on Twitter @LutherTurmelle.